


Adopting a Mental Pet

by Savain



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Author as character, Author's fantasy, Inspired by persephone_garnata's Symbols of a Nameless God, M/M, Mutant Stew - Freeform, little self indulgant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 03:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4945738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savain/pseuds/Savain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little self indulgent fantasy of how I came to adopt a mutant stew as a mental pet, and my imagined reactions of Cecil and Carlos. <br/>Based off a wonderful fic by persephone_garnata called Symbols of a Nameless God. Read it, cause it rocks. <br/>(The stew was a background character in her story that I fell in love with.)<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Adopting a Mental Pet

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Symbols of a Nameless God](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3581634) by [persephone_garnata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone_garnata/pseuds/persephone_garnata). 



> My gratitude to persephone_garnata for reading this odd little fanfic of her fanfic and enjoying it. My endless thanks for the spot edit. Thank you as well for letting adopt Stewart the mutant stew, I promise I'll give him a good home.

It was a lovely night, Savain mused to herself, but far too late to go out walking. She sighed looking out the window and let her mind wander giving into the unrest percolating through her blood by going to visit her mind apartment. It was a silly little game she tried once after reading about mind palaces, which had proven too advanced for her so she settled on an apartment. She had enjoyed it so much she kept at it, filling it with memories and wishful thinking. It was hers and even better it could be where ever she wanted it to be, and since it was safely within her mind she could take a mental stroll. She happily left her apartment for a walk. 

It was a lovely night still. A lovely desert night, she realized delighted. Her mind apartment must currently be in Night Vale, her latest fandom obsession. Not that she had ever seen a desert, unless the Badlands of South Dakota counted, which they might since they were the only place she had spied a wild cactus and it had been terribly hot, dry and desert-ish. Not that any of that really mattered because this was her vision and mental construct of her understanding a fandom world and it was most certainly Night Vale judging by the mysterious lights passing overhead. She crossed the small parking lot and turned randomly left onto the side walk realizing that her apartment building had materialized in a suburban style subdivision. 'Neat.' she thought wondering which one it might be and trying to recall all the names for them in the WTNV verse. 

She made her way a couple houses down the block pausing when she heard a door shut abruptly. She glanced around and saw a disheveled looking man trudging down a short driveway just a little ways ahead of her. He had longish dark hair that tended to curl in unruly fashion, his clothes were slightly rumpled looking like they had been lying on the floor until just a few moments ago, his sneakers were untied and he was muttering menacingly at the plastic garbage bag he was marching down to the can at the end of the driveway. This crumpled garbed, disheveled man could be none other then the handsome Carlos, and she fought to keep a tight lid on the high-pitched and inevitably embarrassing fangirl sounds that threatened to bubble out of her throat. She glanced at the house and saw a figure back lit in the living room window. The figure was certainly male by the angular silhouette, not tall or short, not fat or thin and she knew it had to be Cecil. 

Carlos slammed the lid down on the can after he had unceremoniously tossed the bag in, and gave a huffing sigh of something that sounded like frustrated relief as he pushed sweat dampened bangs out of his eyes. He glanced around and saw her standing there watching him and his shoulders slumped inward just a bit like he was suddenly self-conscious. She smiled under the street light and gave a small wave, earning an awkward shrug and wave back before he made his back up the drive way, only stumbling once over his shoe laces, leaving her alone in the lovely desert night. 

The porch light flicked off just as the door closed on the house and she went to continue on her walk, wondering how far they might be out of Nightvale proper and if Big Rico's might still be open because as horrible as wheat and wheat byproduct free pizza sounded she had it on good authority that 'nobody makes a slice like Big Rico. Nobody' and she wanted to try it out for herself. A faint rustling noise caught her ear as she passed the garbage can and she stopped, both curious and slightly nervous. 

The rustle continued accompanied by a faint chirping yet bubbling kind of sound, like what the noises of zebra finches played over cooking oatmeal might sound like. There was something alive in Carlos' garbage can, she realized and glanced back toward the house uncertainly. Did he know? Should she alert the scientist to the possible living contents of his rubbish? Did she dare investigate something going rustle in the night, in a garbage can in Night Vale? Did she really think this whole mind apartment and mental wandering through her mental constructs of her favorite fandoms was a sane and or healthy mental activity? And just why the hell did she feel like she already knew what was in that can? 

Savain cut off her rambling brain and took a fortifying breath before she approached the can. This was all in her imagination after all what could go wrong, right? She carefully raised the hinged lid and peered into the can. A single white trash bag tied at the top rested in the bottom, its sides rustling and fluttering as something moved within it. She carefully tilted the can into the dim glow of the street light to get a better look, making the bag shift and thunk against the side of the can. Whatever was in the bag gave a startled thrash and made louder slightly indignant bubbling chirping noise. Savain jumped letting go of the can with a squeaking curse word of surprise, the can thunking hollowly onto its side on the sidewalk, the garbage bag tumbling half way toward the mouth of the can. A moment later the side split as a reddish brown tentacle slithered out of the split followed by a second. The pair began to cautiously slither and feel the new environment the split opened to it. 

She tried to take a scared step back and tripped on her own feet landing squarely on her ass which left her to scrabble backward like a startled crab. The tentacles seemed to pay her no mind as they continued on their mission, the tear in the bag widening as a couple more darted out and it made gurgling sound. As her heart settled as curiosity took over and she really looked at the thing. The tentacles were reddish brown but they were also liberally dotted with green and orange spots that if she had to put a name on what they resembled she would say flecks of green onion and diced carrot, oddly enough. From the split in the bag she could make out a gleaming black eye rimmed with what could only be compared to a muscle shell. Its gaze flicked her direction and her heart skipped a beat in alarm but it only looked at her placidly and slowly unfurled a tentacle toward her curiously. 

She knew better, she knew she did but still she could not help extending her leg toward it, pointing the slightly curled with wear toe of her sneaker toward the inquisitive limb. It gently and slowly explored the tread on the bottom of her shoe, a couple of the tentacles still in the can pulling what was left of itself hidden in the bag closer to the edge of the can to improve its reach.The tentacle was now better able to explore her shoe and did so slowly trailing up toward the top, pausing when it found the laces. It traced the criss-cross pattern toward the top of her shoe until it found the granny knot she had tied. The part still in the bag made a chirping trill and a second tentacle joined the first as they in tandem explored the knot. She was so caught up, fascinated but nervously watching the thing trying to make sense of her shoe laces she missed the third limb make its way stealthily toward her shoe curling and suctioning to the bottom and sides until it suddenly pulled it off of her foot. It trilled and purred in victory as it snatched the shoe away retreating into the bag with its prize. 

"Hey Squidward! I need that!" She snapped and without thinking she scrambled to her hands and knees, crawled to the can and stupidly reached into the bag groping of her shoe. "Give it ba-" she snarled but was interrupted by a slap to her hand and a viscous bubbling sound. "Ow! Little bastard." She jerked her hand out of the bag. The inside had been very very warm but not hot, and her hand was damp but not slimy or covered in grossness. She had stupidly given what ever was in the bag a prime chance to bite off a couple of fingers had it been so inclined but it had only slapped her in effort to keep its treasure, Savain realized as she paused to think. What ever it was it did not seem particularly vicious or mean, was far more curious then anything and was currently in possession of her shoe, though she was not entirely certain she wanted it back now that it was in a trash bag, which was lucky as she heard a ripping sound above the things bubbling chirping and rustling of the bag. 

She glanced again at Carlos' house wondering how he had thrown this thing away, it seemed far too scientifically interesting to have just discarded, though she felt a bit safer as well realizing Carlos was far to conscientious a character to throw something alive and dangerous into a thin bag and into the trash. Despite it' squid like limbs and strange mollusk shell rimmed eye it had made a couple very identifiably pet like noises and they were tugging at her heart strings now. It seemed rather mean to throw the animal...umm creature....uhh thing away like that and a tad heartless to just leave it behind now. It was obviously related, at least to sea life, and in just a few hours the desert sun was going to rise and the poor thing would bake and dry up...damn. 

"Uhh...hey there....little squiddy thing." She called softly and tapped her fingers lightly on the can. The rustling, ripping and chirping sounds stopped. She made a soft clicking sound with her tongue and scratched her nails on the can like she would if she were trying to coax a shy cat out from under a sofa. "Hey squiddy squiddy squiddy." She called again softly rewarded by a shy limb uncurling out of the bag toward her. "Yeah you know me, I'm the lady who let you eat her shoe a minute ago. What'cha say? Wanna come out and see me?" The tentacle carefully slithered around until it found her finger and then just the thin tip curled around her index finger, tiny suction cups sticking to her thankfully without barbs or teeth. Savain chewed her lower lip pensively a moment then ever so gently used her thumb to stroke the tentacle wrapped around her finger. The thing went still and quiet and nervously she repeated the action, almost jerking her hand away in shock when it peeled the tip of its limb off her finger and mimicked her. "Well...okay not sure what that means but it's probably a good sign, yeah?" She smiled then pushed her hand a little closer to the bag making kitty calling clicks again. The tentacle around her finger became a tentacle wrapped around her hand and wrist as that gleaming black eye looked at her again. "Gonna get nasty out here soon little...uhh squid. I can at least find you a cool damp place to hide out for a while while I figure out what the hell to do with you." Savain carefully wiggled her fingers at the opening of the bag and the thing shifted and moved a couple more limbs letting them creep out toward her. "That's it little squid, come on out. I won't hurt you." She cooed at it till a second and third tentacle joined the first and it pulled against her like it was trying to move closer. "Aww." She smiled rewarded with part of her shoe flung at her head. "Wow...thanks." She said un-amused and with the beginnings of regret creeping into her mind which was all erased as the thing heaved and slithered out of the bag and crawled up her arm purring and chirping. 

It was roughly the size of a cat and weighed about as much as a solid one does, that and the purring was its only resemblance to a feline though. Under the glare of the street light she could confirm the rest of the tentacles she could see were of the same mottled coloring as she had first noticed, but she was not certain how many of them it had in total. The bulk of its body was roughly bell shaped and lumpy in texture with the similar coloring as its limbs, but with a few white curling blobs of color scattered over it. It seemed to have at least a handful of black eyes rimmed with mollusk like shells as dark as the irises they surrounded. It was not slimy or gooey to the touch but it was damp and much warmer than skin temp. She moved her arm a bit rolling to turn the thing over a bit to get a better look and noticed for the first time the underside of the tentacles was a rather scaly black color and looked dryer then the rest of it almost like crud burnt to the bottom of a pan. 

She paused a moment to debate if she really wanted to do the next thing that popped into her head, but so far things had been all right so she wrinkled her nose and leaned forward just a bit and sniffed in the general direction of the thing. There was a bare hint of something like garbage but she would wager that was just from the can itself, and something almost....good under the faint funk. She inched her face just a little closer and sniffed again and damned if it didn't smell like...soup? Kinda burnt soup. Really? A third sniff confirmed it. The squid thing smelled faintly of garbage from being in the can, and like soup. Tomato base with hints of seafood, spicy, citrus notes and the slightly odd scent of cilantro. 

Suddenly the odd feeling of familiarity and deja vu slammed back over her and this time she let the purposeful mask of ignorance fall away. She re-called a wonderful rated E fanfic she had read by persephone_garnata on AO3 called "Symbols of a Nameless God". She recalled the adorable and funny background story in it about Carlos trying to cook seafood stew for Cecil and how it had gone so delightfully wrong resulting in the cute ball of tentacles wrapped around her arm and her desire to adopt it. (Of course to be fair it was her personal thoughts on what it would look like that were cute, because the thing had been rather mischievous and a little destructive in the story itself.) She had even commented she had adopted it as a mental pet and even remembered the name she had brazenly given it and how very much she had hoped persephone_garnata would not be offended. Savain smiled as her purposeful mask of ignorance got blown down the side walk by the desert breeze. "Well, Stewart, what'cha say we go back to my mind apartment and we find you a nice Tupper-ware bowl to nest in, and find you some nice left overs to nibble while I type this odd little fic up?" Stewart gave a faint bubbling chirp and snuggled into her arm as Savain righted the garbage can and began to walk back to the mental construct apartment building.

 

A few weeks later a random plot bunny invades Savain's thoughts resulting in:

"Cecil." Carlos said in that perfectly indescribable tone and inflection that made his lover's name into something unique that belonged solely to the scientist, as he stood looking out the window.

Cecil was engrossed in editing copy for his next broadcast on a wax tablet, with an improvised toothpick stylus as they passed a relaxing morning weekend morning at Carlos' house. The way Carlos said his name never failed to make a trill of joy pass along his spine, even when that simple word was laced with hints of worried confusion. He looked up from his work with a smile. "Yes my lovely Carlos?" Cecil responded letting his voice trail into his best on air tones, which earned a faint smile even if Carlos did not turn to fully face him. 

"You know that odd but nice woman who lives in that apartment building that sometimes exists a couple numbers up the road? The one with the 'follow me in case of Zombie apocalypse' patch on her back pack."

"Know?...Well I know of her and we have exchanged polite nods once or twice as she walked past on her way to the bus stop, but I would not say I know her." Cecil explained as he set his work aside. 

Carlos chuckled just a little then fell silent a moment leaving Cecil looking at him expectantly for a few beats before the scientist asked another question. "Do you remember that night a few weeks back when I tried to make my Mother's seafood stew for you?"

"Umm...yes. The cabinet has not closed right since, and watching you beat it into submission with a ladle left a rather lasting impression." Cecil explained, it was apparently his turn to be slightly worried and confused as he watched Carlos. 

"Yeah, I suppose that would." Carlos conceded then frowned pensively at what ever he had been watching out the window. 

"Are you just asking random questions or..?" Cecil let the end of his query trail off as got his feet to join Carlos at the window.

"Oh no, the two are related. See, that nice but odd woman from up the street is...well not walking it because it doesn't have legs...but it's on a leash...umm...well I guess she's taking that stew out for an ooze." Carlos's head cocked confused as he explained the situation. Cecil joined him just a moment later, following the scientist's gaze out the window and confirmed that as always Carlos was perfectly correct in his scientific observations. 

The stew was indeed oozing along at the end of a leash which was wrapped haphazardly and knotted around a large Tupper-ware bowl with lid. The entire thing was turned on it' side like a snail shell, its lid gaping along the bottom edge where tentacles protruded from it. The woman followed letting the stew go at its own slow pace, every few paces she spritzed it with one of those plastic spray bottles you can get from the store for misting plants or storing home concocted cleaning solutions. It appeared to be in effort to keep the warm desert morning from drying the thing out. 

"Well that's....uhh interesting." Cecil muttered and Carlos nodded in agreement as they watched. A few moments later the thing put on a surprising burst of speed, as a couple previously hidden tentacles darted out of the bowl, stretching farther then should strictly be possible, even for an invertebrate to snatch up an Arby's cup someone had thoughtlessly discarded along the side walk. A heartbeat later the thing had squeezed the cup making the lid and straw pop off, a couple tentacles disappeared into the cup making its sun warmed soda contents spill over the side and puddle onto the cement, where two other tentacles began to happily splash in the forming puddle. 

Through the open window they heard a distressed squeak as the woman rushed forward to try and take the cup away. "Stewart no! Ick...drop it!" She chided sternly then tried to peel limbs away fruitlessly. The ones she managed to peeled away just slithered into the place vacated by the next one she peeled away as the thing tried to pull itself and its prize back into the bowl. "No. Pop baths are icky. Drop it." She said again exasperated, unable to get the cup away from her 'pet', who was unable to get the cup into its plastic shell. "Ugh...fine keep your sticky toy for now, but you are going right into the tub when we get back inside Mister, and I don't care how sad and pathetic you look, you naughty thing." Her tone was loving under the chastisement as she gave up the battle for the cup in favor of attempting to drag it back to her building. 

"Oh." Cecil cooed. "That's rather sweet."

"Sweet?" Carlos parroted as he gawked at his boyfriend a moment. "That thing’s not sweet Cecil, it's..well...it might be dangerous now that I think about it." 

Cecil slid his arm around Carlos' waist. "Well, maybe a little, but she's taking good care of it, obviously loves it and all pets should have good homes."

"That's not a pet...it's left overs...it's Darwinism meets Lovecraft!" Carlos exclaimed as the woman gave up trying to drag the thing and bent down extending her left arm. A tentacle gracefully snaked her offered limb and she lifted the bowl and thing carefully cradling it against her chest as she turned to walk back the way she had come. She was shaking her head with a faint distracted smile as her right hand petted the appendage wrapped around her forearm. 

Cecil smiled at Carlos' way with words. "What an interesting observation, love, I think you’re right. Sadly though, because she obviously missed a golden naming opportunity. Stewart is cute but a bit obvious, Cth-stew-lu would have been much better."

"That's not the point Cecil. We need to warn her. That thing bit me and I still have the sucker marks on my neck where it tried to strangle me."

"Carlos, be fair, you had taken away those rice crackers it found in the cupboard, tried to stuff it into a garbage bag and hit it with a ladle."

"Because it was ripping the kitchen apart, and I'm sorry but I was not going to let my wayward dinner eat your favorite snack, and I did not hit it with the ladle until it bit me! But again that's not the point. Cecil-" Carlos had turned his boyfriend gently but insistently by the shoulders imploringly. As Cecil faced him Carlos was met with a sweet but ever so slightly patronizing smile that made an effective dent in the confused urgent dread that he had been gripped by. Carlos sighed. "This is just one of the Night Vale things I just need to let go of isn't it?"

Cecil wrapped his arms around his lover and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. "I think so dearest. Don't worry the secret police undoubtedly know of the mutant stew's existence so it's being monitored. Also there's a bright side, you inadvertently brought the love of a pet into a young woman's life. Take victories where you can...and speaking of things you should take where you can..." Cecil said softly letting go of Carlos just long enough to take his hand and pull him toward the bedroom. Carlos went reluctantly the first couple steps but in the end followed much more enthusiastically having decided to take his boyfriend’s advice.


End file.
